THE GAP

There is a much-disputed belief that something happened in the Bible between Ge 1:1 and Ge 1:2. Because of this “gap” between the two verses the belief has come to be called the Gap theory and its adherents are sometimes called “gappers.” It is falsely claimed by those who reject “the Gap” that gappers are just trying to compromise with the false theory of evolution and the great ages needed for evolution. However, gappers believe man and all the animals were created for the first time during the literal seven-day week of Creation, and all humans and animals on earth today are descended from those on Noah’s ark. Evolution is a hoax and does not come from Scripture. Does the Gap theory come from Scripture?

 

Because we live in the Age of Reason, the exalted position of science has given evolution astonishing acceptance among Christians. As a young Christian I was fascinated by the evolution/creation debate and spent quite a bit of time studying it. It was interesting and edifying to see how amateurish and biased the thinking of evolutionists can be. Much of what I read came from “creationist ministries.” But as I matured I was increasingly bothered by the lack of maturity and understanding of these creationists. Perhaps because of their constant contact with scientific information, these Christian creationists have become quite Reasonable: They use Reason/leaven in an attempt to show they really are legitimate scientists (which requires them to satisfy the world’s philosophic requirement that “legitimate” science be divorced from religion); many of their arguments come from science falsely so called; many of them do not believe the word of God exists and therefore spend much time flipping through layman’s aids looking for ways to refute both evolutionists and gappers by “correcting” the King James Bible; and many of them join affinity with worldly, non-Christian organizations which lure them further away from the cerebral realm of Scripture so necessary to spiritual warfare. As I grew, the Lord gently moved me away from the world of Reason and into the world of faith. Now I view science with critical disdain and get my reality from the word of God only. When I quit serving two masters I was amazed how rapidly I grew and learned. I attributed my rapid growth to the fact that the Lord had a lot of extra time to devote to me because very few other Christians were going to Him for training. (I’m being facetious, but you get my point.)

 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Ge 1:1). And obviously at that point man was not around because man was not created until Ge 1:26. But notice in v.28 God told man to multiply and replenish the earth. Replenish means to refill or to fill again and implies something was there before. That would mean two things: First, there was an earth before the seven-day creation, and second, it was populated.

 

God used the same word when He later told Noah to multiply and replenish the earth (Ge 9:1). God obviously used replenish with Noah because, first, the earth existed before Noah’s flood, and second, it had been populated by Adam’s descendants.

 

Now notice when God referred to animals in Ge 1:22, He used the word fill instead of replenish. He did so because the animals did not exist before. God is very careful about the words He chooses. And the fact that He chose the word replenish with Adam – just like He did with Noah – leads to the obvious question: Who was living on what earth before Adam was created?

 

In Jb 38:1-8 God is talking about some things that happened before mankind existed: When God originally laid the foundations of the earth the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. In chapter D1, The Star of Bethlehem, we learned that star is sometimes a way of referring to angels in the Bible. Therefore, according to Jb 38 these sons of God, these stars, these angels, were around in the beginning when the foundations of the earth were laid.

 

What else happened in the beginning when the foundations of the earth were laid? 1 Jn 3:8 says the devil sinneth from the beginning, and Jn 8:44 says he was a murderer from the beginning. Cain was also a murderer but since he wasn’t there when the foundations of the earth were laid, his brother, Abel, wasn’t the first murder victim. Who did the devil murder in the beginning? The Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world (Re 13:8). See also Re 5:6,12 and Jn 1:1,14,29.

 

Now, before we go any further, it will speed things up if we establish a few things. First, when the Bible uses the word “tree” it is sometimes referring to living beings that are not trees. Take the time to look up Mk 8:24; Ju 9:8-15; Da 4:20,22; Is 56:3; Je 17:8; Mt 3:10; 7:16-19; Is 65:22; Ps 128:3; Ho 10:1; Jn 15:1-6. Because the last several examples say vines instead of trees, look at these next verses to verify that vines are trees: Nu 6:4; Ezek 15:2,6.

 

Second, when the Bible refers to “birds” or “fowls” it is sometimes referring to devils. See Mt 13:4,19; Mk 4:4,15; Lk 8:5,12; Re 18:2.

 

Third, Is 14 and Ezek 28 tell us some things about Lucifer. Is 14 calls him by name, Ezek 28 refers to him figuratively. They can be seen to be the same by comparing Is 14:15 with Ezek 28:8; Is 14:12b with Ezek 28:17; Is 14:16b with Ezek 28:17b; Is 14:13,14 with Ezek 28:2. Satan can appear in many forms: a serpent and a dragon (Re 12:9); an angel (2 Co 11:14); and a cherub (Ezek 28:14,16). We are going to focus on what a cherub looks like. Clue number one: Ezek 10:14 lists four faces. In reverse order they are the faces of an eagle, a lion, a man, a cherub. We know what the faces of eagles, lions, and men look like. But what does the face of a cherub look like? We find the four faces also listed in Ezek 1:10. Matching the above order of faces it says an eagle, a lion, a man, and an ox. The four faces of these creatures that surround God’s throne are also listed in Re 4:7. They are an eagle, a lion, a man, and a calf. Notice the consistency. By comparing line upon line, here a little and there a little, we find that the face of a cherub is as the face of a cow. That is why the devil was cursed “above all cattle” (Ge 3:14). And that is why, when the Israelites worshipped golden calves and offered sacrifices to them (Ex 32:4-6; 1 Ki 12:28; Ps 106:19,20) they were actually sacrificing to devils (Le 17:7; De 32:17; 2 Ch 11:15; 1 Co 10:20).

 

It is necessary to note some of these things as we look into the Gap because it can get complicated. There is much resistance to the idea that something happened between the first two verses of the Bible for several reasons. First, it takes some serious Bible study to put together the evidence, and Christians would rather watch TV. Second, many Christians today foolishly use “modern” Bible versions which eliminate many pieces of evidence by changing the words God gave us as clues. Third, the evidence that does remain in these modern versions does not have the authority to teach the people who use these versions about this topic because everyone who uses the New American Standard, New International, New King James, etc., knows (correctly) they are not holy; they are not inspired, inerrant, and infallible; they are not the exact words God chose to teach and guide His church. The only book on this planet that is the inspired word of God (and not “just a translation”) is the Authorized 1611 King James Bible. Only Bible believers (defined as those who believe the word of God as defined by God does exist on earth and who know where to get their hands on a copy) trust God’s words and have the faith to put together the evidence (Is 28:9,10) in order to learn. But those Christians who are unbelievers in the existence of the word of God anywhere on earth, lack the faith and confidence to put the pieces of evidence together (Is 28:13; Mt 13:13-15) because they’re not real sure if the words in the Bible are holy or not.

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Now, please bear with me as I make a point by stating the obvious: In the state of Pennsylvania there is a county called Lancaster. Lancaster County is in Pennsylvania. The county is in Pennsylvania but the county is not Pennsylvania. The county is Lancaster, not Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is not the name of the county just because the county is in, or part of, Pennsylvania. Lancaster is a county of Pennsylvania, and it is in Pennsylvania, but that does not mean the county is named Pennsylvania.

 

In Eden there was a garden (Ge 2:8). This garden was in Eden. It was in the eastern part of Eden. The garden was not named Eden; it was in Eden. It was a garden of Eden (Ge 2:15), and it was in Eden, but that does not mean the garden was named Eden. See also Ge 2:10.

 

In Ge 13:10 we have a place called “the garden of the Lord” being compared with Egypt. Egypt is often a type of the world in the Bible, much more often, in fact, than birds, trees, and stars are used in their figurative sense. In Is 51:3 we see this “garden of the Lord” mentioned along with “Eden” (not the “garden of Eden”). That means “Eden” is the same as “the garden of the Lord” which is typified by Egypt – the world. In other words, this planet we live on was named Eden and the whole thing was the garden of the Lord. On the planet Eden, God later created a smaller garden that was home to Adam. This small garden was not named Eden because Eden was the name of the entire planet. So the small garden was called, appropriately enough, the garden of Eden.

 

In Ge 1:1 God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was named Eden and the whole planet was God’s garden. It was referred to as the garden of the Lord and the garden of God. Lucifer was put in the garden of God to keep it and to dress it. But he rebelled and warred against God. In this war the planet Eden was destroyed and became without form and void. God took the destroyed Eden and in six days created the planet anew. But because Eden was now part of the Devil’s kingdom (Mt 4:8,9; 12:25-28; 2 Co 4:4; Jn 12:31; 18:36), God didn’t make the entire planet His garden this time, and it would no longer be referred to as the garden of the Lord. In the eastern part of Eden, God planted a garden and put Adam in it to dress it and to keep it. But Adam also rebelled against God and was kicked out of the garden of Eden.

 

I’ll now try to piece together what happened from the Scriptures so you can see whether these things be so. (As you study this topic the two illustrations on pages 3 and 4 of this chapter may help you visualize what I’m saying.)

 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was named Eden and was all one garden called the garden of God. All was wonderful and all God’s creatures were happy (Jb 38:7).

 

Lucifer was perfect (Ezek 28:15) when he was created. And he was wiser than Daniel (Ezek 28:3). But Lucifer used his wisdom to accumulate money and other physical wealth (Ezek 28:4). Physical possessions made him materialistic, he became covetous (Ezek 28:5), and that led him to sin violently against God (Ezek 28:15,16; 1 Jn 3:8; Jn 8:44; Re 13:8).

 

Lucifer was in Eden, the garden of God. This first Eden did not have a garden in it; the whole planet was a garden. Lucifer lived in and husbanded the garden of God. Adam lived in and husbanded only the garden of Eden. Lucifer, in the garden of God, was beautiful (Ezek 28:12; 31:8,9). Eden, the garden of God, was apparently in contact with the Deep and was therefore well watered (Ezek 31:4-9).

 

Lucifer decided to exalt himself against God through progress and cities and skyscrapers (Is 14:13,14,21; Nu 24:19; Ezek 31:10). Lucifer (Is 14:12) is also called “the Assyrian” (Is 14:25; Ezek 31:3), and the Assyrian is called “Nimrod” (Mi 5:6), which leads us to more cities and skyscrapers God didn’t want (Ge 10:9,10; 11:3-8). The Assyrian is also called “Pharaoh” (Ezek 31:18b). This is the same Pharaoh who rebelled against God, which resulted in the death of the Passover lamb (Ex 12:5,6), which is a type of Re 13:8. God then warred against Egypt (Ex 14:14,25) and destroyed it with the flood (Am 9:5; Ex 15:8). Ex 14:26 says the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them. This, however, was the first and only time Egypt’s Pharaoh was defeated by the flood. So perhaps this word “again” is referring to Lucifer back in the days of the foundation of the earth (Jb 22:16). Zech 14 seems to say the same thing: Right in the middle of talking about future events it mentions the Lord fighting in the past during “the day of battle” (Zech 14:3b). Perhaps these are clues to a past battle between God’s loyal angels and those angels who rebelled against Him. See also Ju 5:20,21; Re 12:7; Ec 1:9,10.

 

So when Lucifer and his cities in Eden warred against God, the first flood in history occurred when the Deep, which had watered the earth, overflowed the earth and destroyed the Devil’s doings (Ezek 28:8; 31:18b; Is 14:17). This ended the unity and harmony of the Kingdom of God, which had consisted of the heaven and the earth. How long had this harmonious period on Eden, the garden of God, lasted? In other words, how old was this planet by the time the events of the Gap happened? We have no idea because the Bible doesn’t say – probably because time and years didn’t exist back in eternity before God created Time during the seven-day creation week.

 

This ancient destruction by the Deep would certainly be an unpleasant memory for the devils, but that wouldn’t explain why they still have a very real fear of the Deep (Lk 8:31). Let’s take a long road to the explanation. Remember, the Lord said His good angels in heaven don’t marry (Mt 22:30). Does that mean the bad angels who were thrown out of heaven did marry and have sex with women (Ge 6:2,4)? When Ham had sex with Mrs. Noah in Ge 9:21-24 was this a picture of the devil having sex with Eve (1 Jn 3:12)? (Some people think Ham performed a homosexual act on Noah rather than have sex with Mrs. Noah. But first, nowhere is “uncovering a man’s nakedness” defined as screwing that man. And second, Le 18:8,14; 20:11,20; and Dt 22:30; 27:20 all make it clear that uncovering a man’s nakedness is screwing his wife. Third, Ham screwing Mrs. Noah is consistent with 1 Jn 3:12 and 2 Sa 16:21,22. But how can screwing a man’s wife be uncovering his nakedness? Because, unlike most Christians, God takes the Bible literally, and that includes Ge 2:24b.)

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Some devils are still allowed to run to and fro today, but others are locked up (2 Pe 2:4; Jude 6). Why? Did the devils, who are spirit beings, go after human flesh just like human flesh went after spirit beings (Ge 19:1,5)? Is there something so wicked about spirits and mortals having sex with each other that Lot was willing to resort to shocking measures in an effort to prevent it (Ge 19:7,8)? Is that the reason the sex sins in Jude 7 are mentioned right after the bad angels of Jude 6? And if 2 Pe 2:5 is a reminder of the sex sins of Ge 6:4, and if 2 Pe 2:6 is a reminder of the sex sins of Jude 7, doesn’t that mean we can’t rule out sex as the reason for 2 Pe 2:4? So it looks like the bad angels who went after strange flesh were locked in hell, and the bad angels who did not go after strange flesh but kept their first estate are still out and about. Even though they are still out and about, they know the time is coming when they will be thrown into the lake of fire (see Lk 8:31 again). This prison for devils is typified by the belly of a fish, the belly of hell, the deep, the floods, the waters, the depth, being behind bars, etc. (Jona 2:1-6). Hence the devils’ fear of being sent to “the deep” before the time (Mt 8:29; Lk 8:31). Notice that this “deep” the devils did not want to be cast into is not a local lake (Mk 5:10). The devils wanted to go into the local “lake” or “sea” (Mk 5:13; Lk 8:33). The Deep they fear is a much larger lake than the one the swine drowned in; it is the lake of fire into which they will be cast when “the time” is right – at Judgment at the end of the seventh day.

 

After the first battle ended with the first flood, the earth was destroyed, had no form, and was void (Je 4:20,23; Ge 1:2). Then the Deep, which had previously been in contact with the earth in order to keep it watered, expanded like a huge bubble up and away from the earth, but a small portion of the Deep was left on earth as oceans to water the earth via the hydrological cycle. The invisible substance God used to inflate the Deep was the firmament (Ge 1:6-8).